Only One
by dimiserunt eam mane
Summary: "I'll see you later?" He repeated again upon noticing that she had once again dazed off into her own world. Elena nodded again and watched him as he left, the words I'll see you later ringing through her head. AH.


**Only one**

Some of my loyal readers will remember this fanfiction as _Beginnings_, and no, you will no longer find it in my archive because I deleted it before publishing this. However, I have decided after much thinking to re-write the story and keep myself content, because I did truly miss it. I hope that I satisfied some of you as well! Kisses.

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><p>"Marigold?"<p>

He wondered how long they would play this game before he would stop pretending that he didn't hear her giggles, or the muttered "hiding" whenever he asked where she was. But he enjoyed it, and as much as Stefan hated crawling on his hands and knees playing with her, he wanted to hold onto to her childhood for as long as possible.

He couldn't believe next week was her first day of Kindergarten. He couldn't believe it'd been five years already.

With a small sign escaping his lips, Stefan shook himself back into the present and forced himself not to think of _that_. Marigold's laughter broke into the airwaves once more and he chuckled along with her, peering over the edge of the couch, where he knew she'd been all along. As predictable as she was when it came to her hiding spots, Stefan treasured every moment he has to spend with her as if it were the last.

"There you are!" He exclaimed, wrapped his arm around her, and lifted her up on the couch, her giggles infectious.

Marigold crawled onto his lap almost immediately after, her dark brown curls shaking with her laughter. "You founded me Daddy!" She said just as excited, jumping up and down on his lap. Sitting up, the young child wrapped her tiny arms around her father's neck and he reciprocated, clinging to her.

While she was too young to understand, Stefan was afraid of letting her go out on her own, to grow up and be independent. As much as he wouldn't admit it, he was afraid of her turning out like her mother and leaving him. Though this was an immediate concern of his, Marigold always reassured him that she wouldn't be going anywhere for a long time, and that he would always be her Daddy no matter what.

That didn't exactly ever comfort him, but he pretended that it did just because he liked to hear her laughter when she would poke his nose and call him silly for thinking that she would ever leave him.

He blamed himself for Katherine leaving, after all. Marigold would never know her mother. In Marigold's world, her mother never existed. Stefan would have preferred if she hadn't.

It'd been five years since the day that Katherine had left. Five years since she had woke him up, thrown divorce papers at him and stomped on his heart with her stilettos on the way out. Marigold was only a baby when she'd left, a baby that Katherine had never wanted.

He'd seen her once since that day, and it had only been a brief meeting with their lawyer. A light in Marigold's eyes lit up when she saw Katherine, but her mother didn't show the same emotion to her and instead took the papers, signed them and left. He could still hear the young child's cries as Katherine took one look at her and left.

Stefan liked to believe that they lived better without Katherine, that she didn't need a mother figure in her life. There was a large pit of lies that he liked to live in, and that was one of them.

"Daddy?" Mari's quiet voice broke through his reverie and he jumped a little at the suddenness of it. "You dozed off again, silly Daddy."

He laughed softly and kissed her nose. "I'm sorry Mari, I've been thinking a lot lately. About you being a big girl and all, going to school in only one week."

This was a thought all-together that turned off the young child. The idea of sharing her toys and her time with anyone but Stefan or Damon (and _maybe_ Delaney, just maybe) didn't sit with her well. Marigold shriveled up her nose at the thought and shook her head, just as she had for the last six months that he'd been reminding her. However, it still made him chuckle.

The only child that Marigold knew well enough to call a friend was the young daughter of his best friend, Caroline Forbes-Donovan. (She'd decided to keep Forbes on and hyphen Donovan in because of some feminine empowerment… something or another – Stefan really never got the true story.) Delaney was a few months younger than Marigold; Caroline had spent most of her pregnancy learning how to deal with Marigold after Katherine had skipped town.

Marigold liked to call it a punishment – which Stefan really wanted her to go to school so he could be alone. That he could not wait to get rid of her. He would just chuckle at her silliness. The last thing he wanted to do lose Marigold and have to deal with Damon and his baby Momma all day long; the twenty or so minutes they spent together was long enough.

She was all he had left, and now she was leaving him too.

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><p><em>March 25, 2005<em>

"Congratulations, it's a girl!" With the shrill scream in the air and a sigh of relief from his right side, Stefan looked around in a daze. Had that really just happened? Did he just become a father?

When a pink bundle came back to Katherine, he saw the hint of regret in her eyes, but she collected the child into her arms nonetheless and spoke to it in the soft voice he had only heard a few times in his life. After a few moments and nurses coming and going, Stefan looked up in realization that they were all alone in the room, just as they had been for months now.

Stefan's father, Giuseppe, had never been around. None of that had changed in the few months that had lead up to the tiny dark-haired baby's birth. His father had sent him a check to put whatever amount he wanted on it and he would give him that amount. As much as he knew they needed the money, Stefan ripped up the check and threw it out without calling his father back about the money deal.

He would not take his father's money. It was not out of pride, or the lack there of, it was because he knew he could not always rely on his father's money to help him. He needed to learn how to help himself, or he would not be able to get by on his own.

Katherine's parents, on the other hand, had not liked Stefan since Katherine had brought him home the year before, telling them that in spite of the suitors, they had waiting in line for her, that she would marry him, and she didn't need their permission about it.

He could still hear the laughter in her voice when they'd married the day after she told her parents that they would. They had both woken up at the crack of dawn, got dressed and walked, hand in hand, to city hall and married privately, not really telling anyone about it.

Now, those thoughts were a distant memory. In the room, a cold atmosphere settled and clung to the hair on his arms. He wondered if it was remorse for what Katherine had just been through, or if it was just the knowledge that his wife wanted nothing to do with their child. However, she was smiling at it and cooing quietly. For Katherine Pierce-Salvatore, a smile was rare.

Two days later, when Katherine was released, all the happiness she'd initially had for her child had done, but for show, she carried Marigold out in her arms, ignoring Stefan on the ride home. She left the next day.

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><p><em>Present day, Mystic Falls<em>

"Are you nervous?" Caroline was taunting her now, and while Elena was well aware that it was only teasing, it made her feel slightly bad. She decided not to press the issue. Fighting with Caroline FD (which is what she was usually called – no one had the energy to say her full name) was completely pointless. "I mean, I understand why you would be, but 'Lena, you're great with kids. Delaney loves you!"

"That's just Delaney. There's going to be 34 other people in my classroom, Caro. I wish I had kids of my own, I could have prepared for this in advance." Pacing the room back and forth, Elena's hand found her mouth and she nervous nibbled on her nails. She was never good with pressure.

"Well if you had stayed with Mr. Hotshot…" Caroline froze as soon as she stopped speaking, avoiding Elena's gaze for a moment. It wasn't the right time for her to be bringing up Elena's ex boyfriend, and she felt instantly guilty for doing so. "Elena…" she said softly, looking up at her. "I didn't mean it, I swear."

Elena fought off the overcome of emotion that she suddenly felt upon hearing about him. They'd sworn to a no-speak-about-him clause earlier in the year when Elena had moved back home and broke it off with him, but there was still a part of her that yearned to be in his arms again. He was her best friend, the man she could have loved all of her life.

She wasn't ready for what he was offering, and he knew that. She supposed it was that fact that didn't drive him to call her and ask her to come home. Elena wouldn't return now. Her life was in a different place. A place that no one, not even Noah, would understand.

"It's okay," she breathed out deeply, rubbing her eyes. "I know you didn't, Care."

She wasn't crying, but there was a stinging in her eyes that made her think that she was. Unfortunately for her, Caroline wasn't stupid. Caroline knew her better than anyone, because they'd stuck together for so long. Well, until Elena moved out of Mystic Falls for college and met Noah. Their relationship had become extremely unknown and often they went weeks without talking to one another.

Now, however, with Elena living full-time in the small town, Caroline took it upon herself to do whatever she could to keep her friend entertained. Elena swore that she had never seen so much of Mystic Falls in the entire time she lived there, let alone knew it existed.

Caroline stood up and wrapped her arms around her petite friend, rubbing her back slowly. Elena tried to fight off the overcome of emotion, but she couldn't. Reciprocating her friends actions and wrapping her arms tightly around her, Elena buried her face in Caroline's neck and sobbed just for the memories she wished she could forget.

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><p><em>August 19, 2009<em>

Noah felt his heart split inside his chest as he looked down at Elena, the ring in his hand suddenly feeling a hundred pounds. She'd said _no_. Elena, the love of his life, had refused his proposal.

He felt… hopeless.

A thousand questions ran through Noah's head, as he looked at her intently, cringing back away from him as if she knew what was to come. "Elena…" he said, softer than he imagined he would have been able to muster at that moment. "You said… you said you loved me."

"This is nothing about me not loving you, Noah." She argued back, crossing her arms and stepping back away from him, which only caused him to move closer. "Nothing, I do love you, Noah. I just…"

"You just what?" He was screaming now, and he didn't care about the fact that they were in the middle of her apartment and that the neighbors could easily hear their conversation. _No, no…_ The same repetitive sound rang in his ears and he fought the urge to break down. He loved Elena with all of his heart, and she didn't love him the same. This was exactly what it was all about – and she knew it.

"I don't want to get married yet. I'm not ready!" She screamed back, frowning at him. Elena knew exactly what he wanted; he wanted her to be his and _only_ his. She wasn't anyone's property.

Noah scoffed and threw the ring halfway across the room, growling. "You're not ready? You know what, Elena. I'm done. I don't want to have to sit here and have to wait until your pathetic ass is ready. Don't come crawling back to me when you realize what you've lost, alright?" He glared at her once and walked out of the apartment, his heart in hand.

Elena bit back the sudden overcome of emotion, shaking her head – this was not Noah. This was someone she'd never before. "Noah –" She cried, walking after him. "Noah come back!"

"No, Elena." He turned around and faced her. "I'm done with you. Please, just leave me alone."

And he was gone before she could think of something else to say. When she walked back into the room, she sat down on the floor, picked up the ring and pulled it out of the box, sitting the box on her lap.

It was small, but beautiful and as she twirled it around in her fingers, she noticed the engraving.

_To my beautiful wife, I'll always love you._

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><p><em>Present Day – A week later<em>

Elena liked to believe that what happened had happened for a reason. That she wasn't supposed to marry Noah and have a happily ever after with him. (She had convinced herself that she didn't deserve one at all after crushing his heart into a million pieces)

Today was the first day of her new job. Elena had studied long and hard for a local teaching job, and while, in Chicago, she had a job, she didn't stay there long after she refused Noah's proposal. It didn't feel right. Chicago was where he lived, and she didn't want to live there anymore. She didn't want to have to face him awkwardly as they walked down the street.

She guessed that was why she left in the first place. Not because she was embarrassed, that she had destroyed the only chance of love between them, but because it was his territory, and she had never really belonged there – she had only stayed there because of him.

Now, in Mystic Falls, the place she'd always thought of as home, she was going to pursue her dream of being a teacher and try to not to think of him. Well, at least she could pursue her dream.

Once up and showered, Elena placed her clothes on the bed before her and fought for a moment, wondering if this was really, what she wanted to be to doing. A part of her wanted so dearly to just crawl back in bed and cry herself to sleep. With a deep intake of air, she dressed, gathered what she would need for the day and walked out of the apartment before she could think about what she was about to do any further.

"_Relax,"_ she heard Caroline's voice in her ear as she sat down in her car and turned on the ignition. "_You'll be fine, Lena-bean…the kids will love you."_

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><p>"But Daddy-" she whimpered and glanced down at her dress for the fourth time in the last five minutes. "I want to wear the blue one now."<p>

Stefan sighed and ran his hand over his face. If there was one thing he disliked about his daughter, it was her pickiness. He knew exactly where she got it from too, but he ignored the lingering thought in the back of his head. "Mari, we don't have time. You have to be in school in a half an hour. It takes twenty minutes to get there."

Marigold pouted her bottom lip but grabbed her bag and walked beside him, her shoulders lowered. This was what she did when she did not get her way. Stefan knew her better than the back of his hand, and that was saying something.

He sighed and gathered her into his arms as they walked down the stairs, her still pouting, and his eyes brooding. Somehow, Stefan knew this would is how they start many days to come.

After they'd both dressed in their outer clothing, he helped her into her car seat and drove toward the school, feeling the butterflies in his own stomach rumble.

He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but a part of him didn't want Marigold to go at all. He was used to it just being him and her all day long, and now she was growing up, and he was growing lonely.

She hugged and kissed him goodbye when he dropped her off _inside_ the classroom (much to her despise) and as he turned, he felt a cold liquid run down his chest and looked down to see the water darkening his light grey shirt. Looking up, he met a pair of brown eyes that brought him back to when he was with Katherine, before she had left. He felt the pang in his heart once again.

"Oh crap," Elena said and put her water down on a table beside them while grabbing a handful of napkins and quickly sliding her hand underneath his shirt, hoisting the fabric up while she cleaned. Stefan was in a daze, and it took a few moments of the cold air against his belly for him to come back out of his reverie and realize what the girl was doing.

"No, no. It's fine." He took her hand away and let the shirt fall back onto him, shivering slightly at the feeling of the cold patch. "It's nothing, really. I wasn't watching where I was going."

In the background, he could hear Caroline's voice among others as they helped their daughters and sons get ready for the first day of the rest of their school life, but in that moment he saw nothing but the beautiful brunette and wondered why she captured his attention so quickly.

Elena scolded herself and sighed, crossing her arms. "I really am sorry, I'm such a klutz." She shook her head, pressed the lever on the garbage, and threw out the napkins that looked damp in spite of the fact that his shirt was still very much wet.

Stefan chuckled and rubbed her arm reassuringly, ignoring how she flinched when he touched her. "Trust me, it's fine. I'm going home anywhere. I'll see you later when you come to pick up your kid too, I'll be sure to wear my waterproof coat when I come." He winked and began to walk past her as Elena turned around and chuckled.

"I'll be here regardless, none of these children are mine… I'm their teacher. So, I guess you're the hot Dad that every girl in here has been talking about." She seemed smug as she said it, looking him up and down, and suddenly Stefan felt self-conscious.

He shook his head and laughed. "Is that what they're saying about me?"

Elena grinned, and nodded, smiling just slightly. She wasn't supposed to feel comfortable around a guy, it wasn't right, and it certainly didn't make her seem like she was the right type of person to be around. She was becoming a flirt, something she'd never necessarily been, but Elena had never been single before, she'd never had the chance to be able to just _flirt_ with someone and not worry about the consequences.

"I'll see you later?" He repeated again upon noticing that she had once again dazed off into her own world. Elena nodded again and watched him as he left, the words _I'll see you later_ ringing through her head.

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><p>Well, well, well. What do we have here?<p>

It's kind of hard to explain what exactly came to this point, but it did. And I hope that at least _some_ of you are happy that I am re-vamping Beginnings. I have had a lot of people request that I continue it, but I never had the drive because I thought that I didn't write the story where it could go anywhere. But now, with a completely new storyline (with some of the same things) I bring you: Only one. I hope you enjoy the ride, because it's going to be a long one.


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